Monthly Archives: March 2012

You know I’m not going to tell you that easily. Here’s the full story. ^__^

Got up ungodly early. Attempted to wrestle with the contact lenses and somehow ended up dropping both of them. Despite having paper towels in the sink, I could NOT find either one. Weird. I have dailies anyway, so no big deal, but I decided not to push the issue today and just take my stupid glasses.

Left the house awhile later, planning to get to the room a half-hour early so I’d have time to relax and focus. Tried to keep my mind off of things by listening to MC Yogi (who I am so glad to have been in an Anusara yoga workshop [I just wrote worksheep lol] with last August– he and his wife Amanda are the nicest people and great performers as well!) instead of my usual industrial/techno/goth mix.

Once I actually got to URI, it was cold and drizzly out, grey skies and everything and so naturally the proctor of the exam wasn’t there yet, meaning we all had to stand around outside the building in the lovely weather. There were only a handful of us there at that point– and I only recognized one person thusfar. I was very relieved to hear that everyone else felt just as tentative about the exam as I did. But one of the girls had found out that comps aren’t given an actual grade, you either pass or you fail. That certainly made me feel a little better since I figured I’d be able to write down something coherent for whatever they asked.

Turns out that the proctor was my information literacy instruction professor, the one that had given me the perfect teaching score, so that also made me feel better. She used to be an elementary school librarian, so she has that calm yet cheerful demeanor that is pretty much prerequisite for working with kids that age (hence part of why I never, ever will lol). She opened up the building, we went in, went into our usual classroom. Even as more people filtered in, I was surprised not to see anyone else I knew. From the sounds of the conversations around me, everyone there was in the school library media track; they may have started the program at the same time as me, but took very different classes from the ones I did as an archives/academic leaning librarian, hence why I’d never seen them before.

Since there was still about twenty minutes before the test could begin, I didn’t stay seated the whole time. I got up, went upstairs where the landscaping department has their workshop, read the stuff on their bulletin boards. Went down to basement, paced up and down the dark, sketchy hallway, was surprised to find that the hidden bathroom down there was currently in use– most people avoided it after some cockroaches were seen darting around but eh, I’ve never seen them and wouldn’t care even if I did.

After awhile I returned to the classroom, now considerably fuller though there were still few people I recognized. Sat down, got comfortable, took some deep breaths and cleared my mind. I’ve never really considered this meditation, per se. . .but I guess in a way it is. I find it helpful to do before tests because by that point, you know as much as you’re going to know. By letting that space into your mind, you can actually stop and think about what you’re writing instead of just vomiting random facts onto the page as quickly as possible.

Before too much longer, it was time. Blue books were passed out and then the test itself. Before doing so much as picking up my pen, I decided to read through every question first. As long as I could answer one in each section, I’d be golden. None of them turned out to be awful or impossible, but I decided on the three I’d do and opened up my extra “note taking” blue book to sketch outlines for each essay. Once that was done, I sat back and rested for a moment before really starting– this really wasn’t going to be awful.

It took me about 3 of the 4 available hours to finish. I’m sure I missed little things here and there, but seeing as these are graded pass/fail, I shouldn’t have anything to worry about. What were the questions? Since I know you all care so much, here they are (or at least the gist of them):

1. With technology being so omnipresent nowadays, is it wise for libraries to provide patrons with a specially designated “no technology zone?” We were asked to provide reasons why or why not based on a theoretical mission statement/guiding philosophy for the type of library of our choosing.

2. Explain how you would design an information literacy instruction program for a particular population that visits your institution. Describe who they are, why they have a need for ILI and what your program would consist of, including elements of evaluation and assessment. This was sinfully easy for me because I’m essentially *doing* this as part of a project for one of my classes.

3. How do millennials differ from other generations? What do they have in common? How would your type of library be able to better cater to them in a variety of ways (which we were told, but I’m not listing them all here). This was also sinfully easy since Travis and I talk about this ALL THE TIME. In this case they had millenials defined as 1983-2000, but I still think that generation doesn’t really begin until 1985 or so. At least they didn’t lump *us* into that category. I’m sorry, but being born in 1981 and 1982, we remember a world without the internet VERY WELL– the kids currently in college do not. This could easily turn into an entire entry in itself, so I’ll stop there, though maybe I’ll dive into it another time.

So fine. Everyone was right and comps were pretty damn easy.

Later in the day, Travis and I went grocery shopping, but first we stopped at the Alex and Ani store that’s right across from our Whole Foods. Unlike the oh-so-popular Pandora, Alex and Ani make bracelets that are interesting to look at and much less expensive! Also unlike Pandora, their bracelets are meant to be stacked, so aside from ones with charms, they have “filler” bracelets with colored beads or patterns, etc. I’d take a picture of my bunch if I had a camera handy, but alas. I decided to go with the OM charm today, but there are a ton of others I like, so I know I’ll be back. ^__^ Another great thing about the company is that the jewelry is actually made here, in Rhode Island, which means buying their stuff is supporting local jobs. Actually the company’s world headquarters is located in offices right above the shop, so it’s altogether a local outfit. Just taking RI back to its jewelry making roots. 🙂

Well, that’s about all for today since I’m exhausted. Can’t promise I’ll write tomorrow because I slacked off in a number of creative ways at my jobs this past week, so now that all my hell weeks are over, I need to get back to doing legit library stuff. But do keep an eye out because half the time I say I’m not going to do something, I will and vice versa. Damn Libras never able to make up their minds, lol.

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now, because I just do NOT have a good feeling about my comprehensive exam tomorrow– aka the test I need to pass to get my degree. Everyone I’ve talked to is like “eh, you’ll be fine,” but that’s what everyone told me before I failed my first driving test too. v_v I think part of what I’m worried about is that there wasn’t even a real way to study for this test. These questions can cover ANY aspect of librarianship– from collection development to designing info lit courses for under-served populations to cataloging issues. It’s 3 essays; you must pick from one of two questions for each of the 3 sections, so you do have *some* choice. Old questions have been posted online and yeah, I took a gander. Some were not bad but there were a few that made me O_o;;;

So. Tomorrow. 9am. Wish me luck. ::cry::

Okay, now for the bragging!

Switching my focus from archives and preservation to academic libraries and info lit was the best possible move. I never wanted to become a teacher, in fact I was a little unhappy when I found out that is a HUGE part of being an academic librarian, but apparently it’s where my talents lie.

– For my info lit class last semester, I am the only person the professor has ever given a perfect score after observing my lesson. . .and she’s been teaching for like 15 years.

-Last year, I was the only grad student asked to teach several of the 2 hour long info lit classes that occur during the summer. The kids were asked to rate the class at the end, and apparently several students gave good feedback about me specifically. And I heard from someone who read the feedback that out of the 5 or so people teaching the classes, I was the only one who was singled out like that.

-I ran yesterday’s LIB 120 class from beginning to end– it was the main project of my Professional Field Experience. I wrote the lecture, I created the activities, I guided the discussion, I even created a 4 minute video on the subject (more on that later). Was I nervous? A little, just because I knew that the class’ normal professor, who is also my PFE “mentor,” would be watching and evaluating everything. Mind you, she *knows* her stuff when it comes to information literacy instruction. First of all, she’s the head of URI’s ILI department; secondly, she’s co-written several books and scholarly articles on the subject; lastly, she’s run a national program called “Immersion” which is a VERY big deal in the academic library world. Just to be accepted into the program is an ordeal– you must already be an instructor whose made significant contributions to the field at your institution. I looked at the application once and even that was concerning, lol. Plus like I said, she has not only been through this program, she has LED it.

After class we chatted in her office about how things went. She asked for my opinion first, and though I felt the class went well overall, of course I pointed out several things that I thought could have been better. To my surprise, her response was, “Well I thought the whole thing was great!” She read all of her notes to me and the only things she pointed out were very minor, and weren’t even technically corrections, just suggestions. So, awesome.

-About the video I mentioned above. I made a video for Bryant last semester using Camtasia software– it’s a very simple video editing software to learn and I was coming from zero experience. For whatever reason I felt like making one to go along with yesterday’s Web Evaluation class. When I showed it to my mentor she was thrilled by it and immediately asked if she could forward the link to the other LIB 120 teachers! Naturally I said she could. A few librarians emailed me back some compliments on it, including one guy we’ll call L. L is a nice enough guy, but he’s NOT quick to praise student work. Apparently he liked my video so much that he decided to show it in his own LIB 120 section. Again, my mentor was like, “Um, he is never impressed by anything so. . .wow.” Honestly, I think the video I did for Bryant is better! If you’d like to see what all the supposed fuss is about, here’s the link.

-I received applause at the end of the last three classes I’ve taught. Applause. For the record, normally the students cannot wait for the library class to end and as soon as you finish talking, they immediately pick up their stuff and march out of the room silently. I don’t know. I try to throw in humor when I can, I’m not afraid to be self-deprecating and I’m quite animated. . .no hiding behind the computer for me! It comes naturally to me; having been on stages of various sizes since I was about 5 might have something to do with it, but no matter what, it’s a trend I hope will continue. Happy students = attentive students = students who might have actually learned something! lol

-And finally, I’ve been given my own entire section of LIB 120 for the Summer, which is partly why I’m doing my PFE in it right now. As if that’s not awesome enough, there’s about a 95% chance I’ll also be teaching a class in the Fall semester, too. I’m quite honored about that because not many recent graduates get asked to return as lecturers. . . more often as reference desk staff.

Okay, that’s enough of that. I actually feel bad for writing this entry, but I guess it’s acceptable to have a self-esteem spike once in awhile, lol. I’ll let you know how comps go and then I’ve got some other things up my sleeve worth discussing. Now– onto other random things instead of doing library related stuff!

So although I’m only taking a short break from my story before jumping into Part II, I’ve decided to widen the scope of what I talk about in here, make it more of a personal blog than a story only blog. I want to talk about library stuff, I want to talk about teaching stuff, I want to talk about raw food creations (oh my god, I should start by giving out the recipe for the burger I made today-AMAZING) and all sorts of other stuff.

I considered making yet *another* journal, but then I stopped myself and was like, “Really?!” Face it. If– and only if– my story ever gets an actual “audience,” there’s only so much extra stuff I can write about concerning it. I am seriously considering attending the Ocean State Summer Writing Conference, where I can have some people who are not me and Travis to read what I’ve done and hopefully give some advice. Well, that and I’m a conference junkie, seeing as I have two library-related ones in May and now this, lol.

Hoping to start the new stuff soon. For the billionth time, I have a lot of big things coming up this week, so I really shouldn’t be tinkering around on here a ton. But yeah. Hopefully broadening my subject will help me write more often. We shall see.

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Oh hey, so what’s the perfect thing for me to be doing this week, with my class on Thursday and Comps on Saturday? Changing my blog, of course! No, I’m not moving for the 395749 time, but as you can see I’ve already changed the appearance and I plan on changing some other stuff too. Just FYI.

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And I am so, so happy with it. ^_____^ Yeah, it still needs a ton of editing, and there’s small sections that I skipped over to get to the “good parts,” but it’s something– a concrete step. And I’m giving myself a break before I start on Part II (which also needs to be totally rewritten, from scratch) just because I am super busy this week and, like I said,I’d like to do at least one more full revision of the first part. Hell, I’m already working on it here at the library, lol.

I’ve also been playing around, jotting down bits of stories from what is theoretically happening to my characters right now, cuz remember, they don’t stop aging. Cassie actually has a storyline of some importance growing, which is good. After all, she and Damian and Lucretia are the next generation of this story so they’ve gotta start getting involved somehow (well, maybe not Crete since she’s only 5 months old, but. . . )